


Pylae-Angorio's Disease

by katmamushka



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: F/M, Hope you like it!, Modern AU, RebelCaptain V-Day Exchange 2017, brief mention of Kay and Bodhi, for pedlimwen, this is my first fanfic so I am so sorry if you feel like it's childish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 12:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9727328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katmamushka/pseuds/katmamushka
Summary: Modern AU of Rogue One, takes place in the last scenes of the movie. Pretty much my take on  the "what-would-happen-if-we-had-ten-more-minutes-together" question, it mainly revolves around the reveal of their feelings to one another and they learn about each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's some background for you:
> 
> •This is more of a modern take on the we-only-have-ten-more-minutes-together AU! rather than a traditional Star Wars setting (one, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to correctly describe the mood and emotions in a war zone, my vocabulary is basic, and two, I’m much more comfortable writing in a modern environment b/c of the constant inspiration around me)  
> • Pretty much our “Rogue One” team is more like a test group of people with a “terminal” disease: Pylae-Angorio’s Disease (I use quotation marks because of the fact that there is no known cure)  
> • The symptoms include constant migraines, due to a tumor in the brain caused by overexposure to a certain (unknown) element of polluted air, and eventually the death of all organs, meaning they stop working (so like ALS)  
> • The Rebellion is a group of doctors at Yavin General Hospital dedicated to caring for patients afflicted with this disease  
> • At first, Jyn was rather rude to the rest of the group (she’s in denial) but over time she becomes to realize that despite their short time together they all have something to learn from each other  
> • And thus the romance of Jyn and Cassian begins  
> • Eventually, due to a lack of resources and an outbreak in Beijing, the group gets sent to Scariff Center of the Treatment of Immedicable Disease (SCTID) for a possible cure  
> • Dr. Krennic is the head surgeon of the medical center   
> • He however uses unethical methods   
> • He created the DTH-STAR, a more violent version of an MRI scan machine, but instead of making an image, it treats the disease  
> • Ironically though, in order for it to work, this machine you need a large amount of a combination of electrolyzed iron molecules that causes the blood to follow their movement and pressurized gas tanks that power the whole entire contraption  
> • Jyn and Cassian are the first to test the cure  
> • Of course, the tanks erupt due to a small flaw that Dr. Galen Erso put in to prevent the worsening of the disease (cuz that’s what the machine actually does, all of that blood movement causes more of the cells to travel to the tumor, making it even bigger)

This is now where our story begins….

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hospital erupted into chaos. Lights flickered on and off. Screams could be heard from rooms far from their isolated radiation chamber. They were soon silenced. Cassian raised his head off the white pillow to look at Jyn, his torso restraints preventing himself from rising. Even after six years of his absence from a medical school, the basics of medicine had not left his memory — in this state her body would not be able to sustain itself, and if she pushed herself any further, the consequences would be drastic. 

Dr. Krennic’s body was still on the floor, hacking cough and cool, disapproving stare finally wiped from the earth. Smoking wires lay beside him, trailing across the floor to the accumulator and into the control box that now lay in Cassian’s hands.  
Standing over his body was Jyn, stoic as she took in the body of the killer. The man who destroyed her family… her friends… herself…

Grunting, Cassian managed to free a second hand from his restraints, “Jyn! Jyn! Listen, Jyn it’s not worth it, we’ve done everything that we could do!”

Plaster fell from the ceiling, dusting Jyn’s hair with white powder. She slowly turned her head towards Cassian. Her eyes were dead and for a second he feared that she would deal another blow to the already still body of her arch nemesis. So many emotions  
were playing out across her face, in her ever-changing eyes, that it was hard for Cassian to correctly figure out what needed to be done, yet somehow his presence was necessary enough.

Waking up from her trance, she quickly worked Cassian free, making sure to be gentle enough for Cassian’s wound in his side to not open again, yet in a smooth, calculated manner that told Cassian that he wasn’t the only one who had experience in stressful situations. 

His binds were quickly removed and any needles removed from his arms.

Together, with Cassian’s arm clutching her shoulder and Jyn as Cassian’s personal crutch, they started to move their way through the fallen debris, equipment, and bodies of the attendants around the room.

As they walked into the corridor, Cassian was reminded of their remoteness. The only way out was through the heavy, metal door at the end of the corridor. He couldn’t remember anything else that had happened after waking up from the anesthesia.  
The hallway was dark, the shadows accentuated by the dim, emergency lights. Along the walls, cracks had appeared, any previous frames thrown onto the floor from the explosion. The pure white walls that had reminded Cassian of his mother’s bleached clothes were now striped by a strange green.

“It’s the iron that’s in the walls,” Jyn bleakly said. “It’s reacting with the heat and gas.”

He squinted at her. “The only way that could happen is if there’s another gas other than oxygen in the room right now.”

“There is.”

Cassian stopped, pulling Jyn to a halt.

“And why would a medical center that’s specialized in treatment have gases that aren’t oxygen in the hospital wing?”

“Because they’re not here to treat us,” She turned her pale face to him, her breathing was ragged. “Remember how I got this one message from my dad before he died?”

Cassian scoffed. “The one where after you trashed the room?”

She continued hauling him to the exit, shoulders shaking as she softly laughed to herself. “Yes, that one. Well, turns out he figured out the truth of this center.”

The door grew bigger as they approached it.

“Scariff is technically a medical center, but it’s more focused on sucking the money out of the pockets of desperate families. Dr. Krennic created this place knowing that families don’t enjoy being split apart, so when it comes to keeping your loved one alive as long as possible he knew that anybody’s willing to pay anything for their possible survival. He planned on investing in that.”

She dropped her arm from his side to prop it against the wall to lean on it. Her hospital gown stuck to her arms, lifting her gown up. Cassian couldn’t help but notice her thin legs, thin and long. He quickly diverted his eyes up to her worn-out face, how had he not realized before how gaunt her face was?

“So he created DTH-STAR, a machine that supposedly ‘treats’ your disease,” she continued. “When in reality, it makes your condition worse.”

She raised her head, her eyes were sunken yet bright with contempt. 

“He hired my father to help engineer his creation, but little did he know was that my father hid a flaw in his machine.”

Cassian moved to the door and grasped the lever. Grunting, he began releasing the hydraulics to raise the lever up. His knees shook from the extreme physical labor.

“There’s a flaw in the exhaust design plan, there’s an opening that allows anyone who knows of the weakness to disable it with a switch.” Light flashed into his eyes, Cassian swiveled his head to her. In her hands, jumping from palm to palm was a small bobby pin. Once again, Jyn simply amazed him.

The sound of gas entering the chamber interrupted their conversation. They watched amazed as the door slowly opened, revealing another dark room full of overturned equipment. 

“Do you think someone is listening?” Jyn asked Cassian. “They might know there are survivors.”

Cassian scoffed. “They damn well better! I’m not doing that again.”

It made Cassian smile to watch Jyn finally offer a little smile to him, it told him that she was going to be okay.

Jyn stepped over the airlock and into the room. Taking in her surroundings, Jyn carefully noted the details of the room. 

A window hung open on its hinges to the left, offering a little bit of sunlight to the room. To the right were the remains of a table, only the broken legs peeking out from the fallen rock and wooden chair hinting at the existence of the metal table. Strewn all over the floor were papers and files, multiple of which were wrapped with rubber bands to prevent the spill of any important papers. It was obvious that someone had been in a rush to gather the secrets of Scariff, and had escaped judging from the broken door. 

Concentrating on any unfamiliar sounds, Jyn motioned Cassian to be silent. Cassian slowed his breathing and closed his weary eyes. He could hear the scrapes of their gowns against their bodies, the creak of the open window, and in the distance… was that a voice?

He opened his eyes, Jyn was staring at him, also certain that she had heard a voice.

Desperate for the chance to get out, they managed to somehow hurry across the room and to the door. Another hallway greeted them but this time it was much larger and at the center was a large carpet, the logo for Imperial Corporations welcomed them into the reception of the hospital wing. Multiple fake palm trees once stood along the perimeter of the room, but now, the pots were overturned, spilling soil everywhere. The desk for the receptionist was empty but the (previously) immaculate organization of the room juxtaposed the cheerful stickers covered on the desk. One sticker in particular stood out, it read “Thanks for everything!” with a smiling kid showing a thumbs-up in the center to an overjoyed nurse; Cassian knew this was all an illusion, simply added to the desk to give the feel of family and comfort to a medical center that never let anybody with the disease out.

Across the desk was an elevator, one which Jyn had already hotwired to open and stood ajar.

“Hey! Cassian, let’s go!” Jyn stood in the elevator, holding a hand to the door to keep it open and a hand rapidly ushered him in. “I don’t know how long we have before this thing goes ballistic.”

As if in answer to her question, a second explosion rocked the building. This time however, it came from the same direction that they were running from. The radiation chamber.

“JYN CLOSE THE DOOR CLOSE THE DOOR!” Cassian screamed, a bright light was lighting up behind the metal door that took Cassian forever to open. “IT’ S COMING!”

Jyn pressed the close button what may have been a hundred times, yet the door still wouldn’t close. Cassian could feel the heat now. He was shaking now, it was happening, he was going to die. Jyn pushed the button one last time before he pulled Jyn to him and turned into the corner, protecting her small frame with his torso as he caved around her. He locked his eyes close, mouth scrunching up in anticipation of their death resulting in him getting a mouthful of Jyn’s hair. With a roar, the doors closed and the pair was left in darkness.

At first, Cassian thought he was dead, he was trying to open his eyes but he could only see black, if this could be considered as vision. But the feeling of Jyn pressed against him told him otherwise, that and the shaking floor. He blinked a few more times before whispering, he had no idea why he was doing this she was right there, out to Jyn. 

“Are you alive?”

Her response tickled his ear, “yes.”

He felt her small hands, push against his shoulders and him away from her, but not before staying at rest on his chest, as if taking him in. Cassian couldn’t help but lean back in to her touch, he couldn’t help it she was just so soft, so unlike her usually rough self. He propped his forearm on the wall behind her head, he was now completely blocking her in yet she was doing nothing to stop him. Maybe she felt comfortable with him, or maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t see what he was doing whatsoever?  
This proved true when the emergency lights finally turned on, blinding them in the process, and Jyn moved away from his arm… closer to him. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, a small smile on her lips. Cassian tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry, she was so close. Continuing to meet her gaze, he reached down with his other hand to his hip, exactly where he knew Jyn’s hand hovered nearby somewhere. Technically, the hum of the emergency generators should be the only thing that could be heard, but if you were this close to another person, the place around you could completely change in seconds if you took the time to just listen. Lowering his head to Jyn’s level, he watched as her expressions changed, from wonder to lust, from lust to content, and from content to surprise. Her micro expressions revealed a whole new disposition to her. Cassian observed as her dark eyelashes fluttered with every movement, hiding her eyes to almost disappearing as she widened her eyes, her mouth opening and parting, tasting the air they shared. He could watch her forever.

He flexed his hand, finally gaining some contact between his fingertips and her fingers. Gaining some courage Cassian hooked his left pinkie with one of Jyn’s fingers. Her hands were sweaty but he didn’t mind, it was Jyn. He looked up from their hidden fingers to her face. He could now see some teeth in her smile. Overjoyed with her response he could feel the ends of his lips lifting up, then parting as he smiled at her. Finally, she looked up at him, by now they were both smiling at each other. She studied his face, then brought her free arm up to wrap around his neck, pulling herself up to him. The distance between them was now barely anything. Her face was tight with worry, she tried to say something but found that nothing could be said right now. Cassian felt his eyes closing now, he could only imagine how hooded they were right now. Slowly, he trailed his pinkie up and over her knuckles coming to rest in the space between her pinkie and ring finger. Accepting his silent invitation, she intertwined their finger together.  
He cocked his head, his eyes fell from her eyes to her rosebud mouth then back up, what would happen if…

The jarring shake of the elevator doors opening interrupted the two, artificial light shining down on their faces. Cassian noted how her dark circles seemed to disappear in the lighting. 

Pushing her shoulder underneath his armpit, Jyn carried Cassian out of the room and into the broken entrance of the official reception area of Scariff on the first floor, with the exit to freedom right in front of them, broken.

As Jyn hobbled back from the barred door, Cassian finally came up with the words to say. 

“Jyn, your father would be proud.”

She looked at him, gratitude and a hint of something else shown in her eyes. It was then that Cassian noticed the wrinkle lines around her eyes; the very same ones that surrounded his eyes. The exact replica of his because of the amount of treatment he had gone through, the exact ones from having to listen from the doctors, “There’s still a chance,” over and over again. He had gone such a long time without anyone but Kaytoo who could understand him, but with the creation of that therapy group, he had found someone special and worthwhile — Jyn.

The two of them were both so tired, and alike. All those moments together had indeed resulted in arguments and disagreements between one another, but they had learned from one another.

HE had changed, he had realized his mistakes and fixed them, but not only that but they had both grown as a pair throughout their time together.

It was at this moment that Cassian knew, in his heart and brain, that this was the girl who he wanted to fall in love with.

“Jyn, I have to say something,” Cassian exhaled. “I know we were never in love,” he made air quotation marks with his free hand in the air. “But Jyn, if we had the time, do you think we could have been?”

He lifted his eyes off the floor to Jyn’s face, and immediately regretted it. He didn’t possible know of any word that could correctly express the amount of shock that he saw. Her normally furrowed eyebrows were for the first time in his presence relaxed, yet for all the wrong reasons. 

Panicking, Cassian withdrew his hand from Jyn’s elbow and began sitting up. Cassian avoided her eyes, they were too observant; he regretted this, all of this. He had made the worst possible mistake.

In all honesty he had expected at worst a refusal but not to such a degree of embarrassment, and at best, a possible kiss and yes from Jyn. But then again the only person who had a minimum understanding of the future was Kay, and he was gone…  
Cassian began choking up. Not only was he in a hopeless situation but he was stuck with a woman who now did not want to do anything with him. He pressed the heel of his hands into his eyes until all he saw were star; he tried to move away from her but a hand on his fingers stopped him. Strange.

“Wait,” Jyn’s voice was almost too quiet, as if she was saying this after an eternity of never having someone to say it too. “Cassian, what do you mean?”

Cassian swallowed, he could feel her concentrated glare, if it was possible, she would be looking right through him. “We haven’t known each other for long but, you know in the few therapies that I’ve been with you, I feel like I’ve changed.”  
He looked up and met her sharp stare, “Not only that, but our whole entire group connected. We shared so many common memories that there was just no way that I could just leave you now. Not now, not ever.”  
Her wrinkles softened and a small smirk skipped onto her lips, making a little dimple appear.

“Don’t you remember the promise that I made you? I’m with…”

“…you all the way,” Jyn finished for him. By now, her entire façade had relaxed and her true self was slowly lifted in front of Cassian, giving him a small taste of her.

They smiled at one another. 

As Jyn stood up, Cassian was reminded of that one day at the mall when they were on a scavenger hunt. It was towards the end, arms full of “treasure” — gift cards, coupons, and free shirts — when they were jumped by a couple of hoodlums. Despite Cassian’s belief that he knew how to defend himself, he was proved wrong and he had watched as Jyn swiftly took care of the idiots. All it took were a couple quick punches and jabs to the chest and soon they were all down. He had fallen onto the ground after being kicked in the gut, trying oh so hard to impress Jyn with his self-defense skills alas he had failed. And there he was on the ground, yet she had reached over and pulled him up to her side, as if she had decided in that moment to truly become his partner in crime.

His flashback was interrupted by the sweaty palms of Jyn as she hauled his body up to lean on her damp hospital gown covered shoulder. It was getting hotter.

Jyn crossed her right arm over her body to lower his arm across her shoulders, her opposite arm slid above his waist and grasped his side. By now, both were sweating, yet it wasn’t from the adjustment of positioning, instead the room was getting hotter. The flames had finally reached their room.

“We probably have ten minutes before the…” usually Jyn didn’t withhold any facts from him, yet for once they were in situation where no help would magically arrive in their car. Considering the fact that he knew they were going to die Cassian was content. He had gone through a good life with Kay, joined a therapy group, and had met Jyn. She looked up to him, lips spread thin from determination.

Cassian kissed the crown of Jyn’s hair. 

“I know.”

A pained cry escaped from Jyn. Cassian shut his eyes close, pressing his check into her hair as he pulled her in. Jyn’s arms twisted around his middle, squeezing him in a way that Cassian had never experienced, he reciprocated the motion. As they stood together in a tight embrace, Cassian could feel as Jyn muttered something into his shoulder, in comfort he slid his hand up from her waist to her shoulder. The two moved in tandem, slowly dancing their way across the room. 

They weren’t sure how long they had left, but in their last few moments they slowly opened up to one another and told the other of their stories. Cassian learned of Jyn’s mother, Jyn of Cassian’s dream to make a difference, and soon they were one. One mind, one breath, one soul. 

During the next few seconds, Cassian couldn’t tell whether the heat he felt was from the oncoming flames or the intensity of Jyn’s hug…


End file.
